


Overjoyed

by brightasstars



Series: HM Discord 500 Words Series [10]
Category: The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: M/M, Mentions of Death, Plans For The Future, Potions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:15:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26329987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightasstars/pseuds/brightasstars
Summary: It's Alec's birthday, but he receives an unexpected gift... for Magnus...
Relationships: Magnus Bane & Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: HM Discord 500 Words Series [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831771
Comments: 27
Kudos: 83
Collections: Favorite Malec Stories, Hunter's Moon 500 Prompts, September Server Scavenger Hunt 2020





	Overjoyed

**Author's Note:**

> Weekly event on Hunter's Moon Discord! Only request: 500 words or fewer. Week prompt - JOY
> 
> The lines of the poem are taken from Orazio's "Carpe Diem" and the translation is written in green in the moodboard

Alec was sitting on the couch, reading a book, his long legs stretched on the cushions, a pair of funny glitter glasses hanging on his nose, the ones that his husband gifted him when it became clear that he couldn't read properly anymore at a close distance.

More grey strays entwined with some of his still pitch black locks, and small wrinkles gathered at the corner of his eyes when he smiled.

Alec had been so unsure at the beginning, as he watched the smoky color spread through his hair, but it turned out that his husband loved it, and started coloring some of his spikes and his goatee with a bit of silver himself.

Alec didn't know how could that be, but Magnus still found him attractive, still searched for him, as if it was always the first time.

  
  


He was turning fifty the next day. Time had really passed. 

Rafe and Max were grown up and weren't living with them anymore, not on a daily basis anyway.

His parabatai had died two years ago, his paled rune still throbbing in pain.

  
  


How much time had he left? How much had they?

He sighed deeply. They knew it and they wanted it, no matter what.

  
  


He shifted, and suddenly a box appeared out of nowhere right in front of him, along with a floating burnt parchment wrapped up in a silky ribbon.

Alec slowly opened it and found a small vial filled with a bright green bubbling liquid. No ingredients, just a label -- _Joy_ \-- it said.

Alec unrolled the paper: an old poem, written in an elegant handwriting, followed by a few lines, and an unmistakable name. 

**_Dum loquimur, fugerit invida aetas:_ **

**_carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero._ **

_This is for you, my dear Alec, but the gift hidden in it, is for Magnus...I've been working on it since the day you both saved me,...glad I made it on time, at least for you two...just one indication… you need to drink it while it's still boiling… ah ...the Spiral Labyrinth knows..._

_Happy Birthday_

_Ragnor_

  
  


Magnus entered and found the open empty vial on the couch. Did someone break in? … or...Did Alec…? No… it couldn’t be...

  
  
  


"Alec...," he cried out in desperation, "where are you?"

"I'm here, outside."

  
  


Magnus' heart was still thundering against his ribs as he crossed the threshold of the glass door.

Then it stopped, his breath trapped in his throat.

  
  


Alec was waiting for him, his hair black, his face plain, the same clothes he was wearing on their wedding day on the ocean's shore. He was, ...he was twenty-something again.

  
  


"How?" he asked as he felt tears welling up.

"Ragnor made it…, for us, for all the others like us…, for you,...he's taken your life in his hands since you were a kid...and now…"

The first sob left Magnus' mouth against his will, followed by a thousand other conscious ones, as the deepest of joys filled his centuries-old heart.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
